One Killed In Runaway.  Two women and baby hurled in front of passenger train at Burrton.  Elephant Frightened Horse.

Mrs. Patrick Murphy, wife of the Frisco section boss here, was instantly killed and her daughter, Mrs. Tom Murphy, probably fatally injured this afternoon, when their horse became frightened at an elephant connected with a dog and pony show and bolted down Main street, dashing into Santa Fe passenger train No. 565.  Mrs. Tom Murphy’s baby, also in the buggy, was thrown clear of the railway tracks and was only slightly hurt from the fall.  The women were driving along Main street when the horse bolted, heading directly for the tracks.  The frightened women were frantically trying to stop the animal, but not until the tracks were reached and the train almost upon the helpless occupants of the buggy, did the horse check its speed.  The horse veered quickly, falling and throwing the buggy around directly in the path of the onrushing train. There was a crash and a scream and the two women were struck by the engine.  Mrs. Patrick Murphy was killed instantly, her body being terribly mangled.  Mrs. Tom Murphy sustained a bad cut on the head and the wheels passed over one of her legs.  Just how seriously she was injured is not known yet.  By some miracle, the baby was thrown clear of the track and was only scratched and bruised a little.  The buggy was hurled seventy-five feet away.  Santa Fe train No. 565 was in charge of Engineer Shipman and Conductor McLoughlin.  The accident occurred at 4:18 o’clock.  The horse which was responsible for the accident got out of it minus one-half of its tail.  The train did not strike the animal, but the wheels passed over the tail, severing it.  (The Hutchinson Gazette, Hutchinson Kansas.  October 20, 1914.  Page 1). 

Mrs. Thomas Murphy’s Funeral Held Saturday.  The death of Mrs. Murphy occurred at the Axtell Hospital at Newton at 10 o’clock a.m. Wednesday, February 18, 1920, following an operation in an attempt to remove a piece of steel from her face caused by an accident seven years ago.  In the past few years she had been a great sufferer, having underwent a number of facial operations in hopes of removing the foreign substance driven into her face at the time of the railroad accident when a Santa Fe train collided with a buggy in which Mrs. Murphy was an occupant with her mother.  The latter was killed outright and the former lost a limb and suffered the accident for which the many operations were performed and subsequently cost her life.  It was said the obstacle had penetrated to the brain and after all the intense suffering caused, eventually ended her life.  Funeral services were held from the M.E. Church Saturday at 2:30 p.m., conducted by the Rev. Shields.  Interment was made in the Burrton Cemetery.  (The Burrton Graphic, Burrton Kansas.  Thursday, February 26, 1920.  Page 1).

Rosalie Murphy was born in Burrton, Kans., February 8, 1889, and passed away February 18, 1920, aged 31 years, 10 days at the Axtell Hospital in Newton where she underwent a serious operation on February 14th.  Her childhood days were spent in Burrton, Kans.  When but a young girl she moved with her parents to near Fallas, Okla., where she spent eight years, again moving back to Burrton.  She was united in marriage to Thomas E. Murphy on March 15, 1911.  To this union was born one child.  She leaves to mourn her departure a husband and son Lloyd, two sisters, Mrs. Mollie Divine of Farrington, Wash., Mrs. Ella McLaughlin of Gt. Falls, Mont., three brothers, Andy, Reuben, and Joseph of Valentine, Montana, and numerous other relatives and friends.  She united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1913 and remained a faithful worker until her death.  (The Burrton Graphic, Burrton Kansas.  Thursday, February 26, 1920.  Page 1).

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